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Certamen
Cass is graduating in a few months, but between cramming mythology, running an art blog, and keeping up with that cute girl from Tumblr, she has no time to worry about what comes next.
Brian is worried that everyone sees him as a robot. He knows that getting his first girlfriend will be the perfect way to show his friends that he is more than he appears.
Katie wants to help her friend out of a bad situation and avoid letting her team down. That dreamboat from the rival team is nothing but a distraction.
Jeff knows that he is destined to go to a top medical school. He’ll prove himself worthy or die trying.
All Spencer wants is his boyfriend back.
It can be hard to keep a Certamen team afloat. Can these five competitors come together to beat the competition and make it to Latin State? Or will high school tear them apart first?
Brian is worried that everyone sees him as a robot. He knows that getting his first girlfriend will be the perfect way to show his friends that he is more than he appears.
Katie wants to help her friend out of a bad situation and avoid letting her team down. That dreamboat from the rival team is nothing but a distraction.
Jeff knows that he is destined to go to a top medical school. He’ll prove himself worthy or die trying.
All Spencer wants is his boyfriend back.
It can be hard to keep a Certamen team afloat. Can these five competitors come together to beat the competition and make it to Latin State? Or will high school tear them apart first?
343 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 4, 2018
3 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 22, 2021
This is not normally the type of book I like, let alone one I give 5 stars to. But this book perfectly encapsulates the experience of being in JCL. And it proves beyond a doubt that Latin kids are universally the best kids. Not only did this book give me flashbacks to captaining a certamen team, it also made me feel like someone had spied on my classroom. Because these are my kids. These are Latin kids. A group of incredibly diverse and quirky humans, all unified by a common, decent goodness of heart. Overwhelmed by the craziness of life, they all pause it in a heartbeat to help a friend. JCL is family.
This was lovely and surprising read. I am going to start recommending it to my students. :)
This was lovely and surprising read. I am going to start recommending it to my students. :)
April 7, 2018
This book was a delight to read. I know nothing at all about Latin, and I definitely mentally mispronounced Certamen wrong the entire time, (kehr-TOM-in, in case you wondered.) but I enjoyed it immensly.
The characters were all realistic, and each had a distinct voice. I loved the diversity and inclusivisity. The humor is relevant and on point.
If you like John Green, you will love this book. It's smart and funny, and also touching and real.
The characters were all realistic, and each had a distinct voice. I loved the diversity and inclusivisity. The humor is relevant and on point.
If you like John Green, you will love this book. It's smart and funny, and also touching and real.
April 14, 2018
A delight to read! Each character is distinct and interesting. The story is wonderful and full of diversity. Definitely a must-read. I learned some awesome tidbits about Latin too! Plenty of mythology references along with history and of course language.
December 26, 2025
fantastic book very accurate to the certamen experience but also a super fun read. so weird to me that goodreads has her deadname as the author, though
July 5, 2018
There were some things I really liked about this: the diversity of the student characters, the JCL stuff (obviously; that's why I read it); even a familiarity with Classics fandom on Tumblr. It was a compelling book that I definitely wanted to finish once I'd started.
But the thing that knocked it down a star or two or me was definitely the Latin teacher himself, this weird cypher in the middle of the story; unlike the students, none of the book is ever from his POV. What do we know about him? Well, he has a beard. That really seemed to be his most salient trait. And one of his students jokes that even though he would stop a m/m or m/f couple from PDA, he would take pictures of two girls?... EWWW. There was no reaction strong enough from anyone in this book; they seemed to think it was funny. Gross, gross, gross. Seriously, I almost noped out right there. If I were the author, I would *seriously* consider revising that. The teacher's like, "oh ha ha don't say that it could get me fired," but the very fact it was in this book still makes me feel *really* icky.
Also one of the characters vaguely wonders whether said teacher would be involved with a student later. Again, EWWWWWWW. Some "it's always the ones whom you least suspect" covering, but ugh, gross, gross, gross.
Remember, these are literally the only things we're told about this teacher. He has a beard, he thinks teenage lesbian students are hot, and maybe he would get involved with a student.
I'm sure he wasn't meant to be characterized that way and it's a fault of the writing but UGH gross.
The kid characters are way, way better, but the teacher pretty much ruined it for me, which is sad, because otherwise I would have really, really liked this.
But the thing that knocked it down a star or two or me was definitely the Latin teacher himself, this weird cypher in the middle of the story; unlike the students, none of the book is ever from his POV. What do we know about him? Well, he has a beard. That really seemed to be his most salient trait. And one of his students jokes that even though he would stop a m/m or m/f couple from PDA, he would take pictures of two girls?... EWWW. There was no reaction strong enough from anyone in this book; they seemed to think it was funny. Gross, gross, gross. Seriously, I almost noped out right there. If I were the author, I would *seriously* consider revising that. The teacher's like, "oh ha ha don't say that it could get me fired," but the very fact it was in this book still makes me feel *really* icky.
Also one of the characters vaguely wonders whether said teacher would be involved with a student later. Again, EWWWWWWW. Some "it's always the ones whom you least suspect" covering, but ugh, gross, gross, gross.
Remember, these are literally the only things we're told about this teacher. He has a beard, he thinks teenage lesbian students are hot, and maybe he would get involved with a student.
I'm sure he wasn't meant to be characterized that way and it's a fault of the writing but UGH gross.
The kid characters are way, way better, but the teacher pretty much ruined it for me, which is sad, because otherwise I would have really, really liked this.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews